Weber State basketball: Wildcats host Montana State with conference title hopes still alive

OGDEN — Weber State has expended an enormous amount of energy in the past week. The ‘Cats have played three games, including an emotional win over league-leading Montana.

But, despite the lack of rest, in all three home games Weber State took care of business and, as Owen Wilson famously said in "Wedding Crashers," “they rocked them all.”

In the three wins, the Wildcats (18-5, 13-2) were on cruise control in the second half — winning all three games by an average margin of 19 points per game. Now, the only thing standing in the way of a perfect home stand, is another breed of feline.

The Montana State Bobcats (10-13, 7-8) invade the Dee Events Center on Saturday at 7 p.m. with three straight losses, including a head-scratching, 87-51, setback against Big Sky cellar-dweller Idaho State on Thursday.

In order to overcome exhaustion, WSU is looking back at an earlier trip to Bozeman. The Wildcats maintained a small lead at MSU before allowing the Bobcats to make a game-swinging offensive run that ultimately led to Weber’s first conference loss of the year.

“We feel the same way about Montana State (as Montana) — like we owe them one,” WSU's Gelaun Wheelwright said. “We went up there to Bozeman and didn’t come out ready to play.”

Weber State remains in contention for the Big Sky title with five games left after winning five straight. The ‘Cats still need Montana to lose another conference game. In the head-to-head scenario, both teams won at home, the next tiebreaker is record against conference teams in descending order. Therefore, the Grizzlies need to drop a game against a team ranked lower than Montana State.